"Glensheen" at the History Theatre

Last night I saw History Theatre's smash hit original musical Glensheen for the 5th time, and loved it as much as I did when I saw the Raw Stages reading over ten years ago. It's unheard of for a local theater's wholly original musical to be this successful, coming back year after year (after year) and continuing to sell tickets. While History Theatre has created many fantastic original musicals that I hope to see again (including I Am Betty, which returns this fall), for some reason (or many reasons) they struck gold with Glensheen. Specifically, dark musical-comedy gold. When you take Minnesota's most famous and strange murder mystery* (the brainchild of retired Artistic Director Ron Peluso), add a script by one of Minnesota's most prolific and talented playwrights Jeffrey Hatcher, and a score by beloved local musical Chan Poling, how can you go wrong?! At this point it's pretty easy for History Theatre to mount this show - pull the gorgeous set and costumes out of storage, plop the original cast on stage, and press go. But the great thing is, the show still feels fresh and exciting, with this dreamy cast still (and probably even more) fully embodying these characters that they know so well. You can read my full review of the original production here (which has remained largely unchanged), or scroll down for ten reasons to see Glensheen (again), continuing through July 14.

"Glensheen" at the History Theatre

Seven years after its premiere, History Theatre's original musical Glensheen (based on the tragic and bizarre murder of one of Minnesota's most famous heiresses) is still going strong! What has become an annual event took a pause during the pandemic, and returned this year with a tour through Minnesota and a three-week stint in St. Paul. I saw it last night for the third time, and was once again impressed by this wholly local creation. Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher's script is so clever and witty (you can also catch his Sherlock Holmes mystery play at Park Square just a few blocks away), local musician Chan Poling's score is so catchy and fun (original cast recording available at concessions), and this seven-person ensemble is so talented in bringing it to life; I don't know how many times they've done this show (five of the original cast members have returned), but they still make it exciting and heart-felt and playful every time. You have one more week to visit Glensheen, site of Minnesota's most famous true crime case (which bears more than a few similarities to 2004 documentary and recent HBO series The Staircase). Click here for tickets, and keep reading for my review from the 2015 production (with a few updates):

"Glensheen" at the History Theatre

History Theatre's new original musical Glensheen was such a hit last fall, they brought it back this summer. If you missed it last time around, now's your chance to see this clever and wickedly funny musical. And even if you did see it last year, it's definitely worth a second viewing; I enjoyed it even more the second time around. They've brought back the original cast, a talented, charismatic, and hard-working ensemble of just seven actors who seem like more, who are if anything even more comfortable and playful in their many roles than they were last year. Sitting up in the balcony this time, I had a bird's eye view of the action and was even more impressed with this cast, the set, the lighting, the band, the sound, the costumes, and the way every element of production comes together to tell this truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story of Minnesota's most notorious murder mystery. You have until the end of July to see this fantastic new creation and tickets are going fast - don't miss out a second time! And keep reading for my full thoughts on the show from last fall.

"Glensheen" at the History Theatre

Americans love a good true crime story. And truth doesn't come any stranger than the story of the elderly heiress and her nurse who were murdered in Duluth's most famous mansion. The murder weapons: a silk pillow and a candlestick. The murder location: the old woman's bed and the grand staircase, where a violent struggle occurred. The prime suspect: the heiress' son-in-law, allegedly acting out the wishes of her daughter who was desperate for money to feed her insane spending habits. The key evidence: an envelope mailed to the son-in-law from Duluth containing a valuable stolen coin. The result of two of the most sensational criminal trials in Minnesota history: both suspects go free, one to later commit suicide, the other to leave a string of suspicious deaths and fires in her wake. I mean really, you cannot make this stuff up. Truth is indeed stranger than fiction. What better subject for a new musical at the History Theatre, known for developing new work that explores important events in Minnesota history? This bizarrely fascinating story practically writes itself, so when talented and prolific Minnesota playwright Jeffrey Hatcher applies his biting and clever wit to the story, along with songs from the famed Minnesota musician Chan Poling of The Suburbs¹ and The New Standards, what you get is dark comedy-musical gold. The potential was there at the reading of the new musical last year as part of History Theatre's annual "Raw Stages" festival,² and it's a pleasure to see how that potential has blossomed into a fully formed piece of music-theater. It's dark and delicious, hilarious and musically entertaining, poignant and tragic.

If you're not familiar with the story of Chester Congdon, the East Coast lawyer who very wisely invested in iron ore in late 19th Century Duluth, you should visit the grand estate on Lake Superior that he built for his family (wife Clara and seven children) and left to the University of Minnesota - Duluth upon the death of his last child. Which happened to be his youngest daughter Elisabeth, who never married and lived at Glensheen her entire life, adopting two daughters with whom to share her life, love, and fortune. It's her daughter Marjorie (named for Elisabeth's beloved older sister) upon whom this little tale hinges. Diagnosed a sociopath as a teenager, Marjorie had an insatiable spending habit that put her in constant debt and eventually, allegedly, led her to convince her second husband Roger Caldwell to kill her mother in order to receive her inheritance. The details of the story are too strange to be believed, except, of course, that it's true.

Marjorie Congdon sings her story
(Jennifer Maren and cast, photo by Scott Pakudaitis)

The musical begins on a modern-day tour of the historic Glensheen mansion. The people on the tour become a little too curious about the famous staircase and the tour guide tries to steer them towards the architecture of the house, but to no avail. This fabulous cast of seven then leads us on a tour of bizarre and tragic life of Marjorie and those around her. The musical stays fairly close to the facts of the case, although of course some is conjecture or rearranging to make a compelling story. But don't worry, at the end of the show they tell us exactly what was made up and what wasn't.³ It's all very tongue-in-cheek and darkly comedic, done in the heightened reality style of musicals, but with some grounded and poignant moments that remind us these were real people who suffered great tragedy. The tone walks the fine line of being campy, funny, and outrageous, while not disrespectful to the lives that were lost. The show engenders sympathy not just for the two women who died that night, but also Marjorie's husband Roger, who certainly didn't know what he was getting into when he married her, and perhaps even Marjorie herself. Perhaps.

Highlights of the show are many, including:

• Rick Polenek's rich set looks like a mini-Glensheen, a reproduction of the famous staircase leading up to the stained glass window on the second floor, with stately furnishing and lush carpeting that extends into the audience.
• Director Ron Peluso and his cast make great use of the multi-level stage and the aisles in the audience, drawing us into the story, even at one point using us as potential jurors.
• Musical Director Andrew Fleser (whose piano is dressed out as a bar) leads the just barely visible band through a really great score with big ensemble numbers, soaring ballads, quiet plaintive songs, and some fun and rousing songs, accompanied by Tinia Moulder's choreography.
• Most of the fantastic seven-person cast play multiple roles - maids, cops, detectives, lawyers, reporters, etc. - except for Jennifer Maren, who brings Marjorie to life in all her murderous, arsonous, seductive, sad little girl glory. She's an endlessly fascinating villain, the kind that you love to hate.
• Dane Stauffer is great as the drunken patsy Roger, without making him a caricature. We also see Roger's human side in his confession and death - just another one of Marj's victims.
• Stealing scenes in a multitude of roles, including Elisabeth, her nurse (with a sad and lovely song), and, briefly, Agatha Christie, Wendy Lehr is a delight to watch, most especially in her gleeful turn as a rock and roll defense attorney who may or may not be known "Beshmesher," shimmying her way through a rollicking defense of Marjorie.
• Ruthie Baker, Gary Briggle, Adam Qualls, and Sandra Struthers Clerc gamely jump into whatever role is asked of them, and the seven-person cast seems much larger with all the characters in the story.
• The costumes (designed by E. Amy Hill) help define the various characters and place it in that '70s/'80s timeframe. Marj's wardrobe is particularly fabulous (I'm not sure the real Marj is this fashionable), always in red, reminding us of the blood and fire she leaves in her wake. Barry Browning's lighting design bathes the stage in a red glow when appropriate, as well as creating some startling lighting strikes.

Glensheen is a fantastic new original musical, based on one of the most fascinating true crime stories in Minnesota history. It's a sordid and epic tale just ripe for some kind of theatrical treatment, and Jeffrey Hatcher and Chan Poling have given it just the right kind. A dark and campy musical about a stranger than fiction true crime story? Yes, please! (Playing through October 25.)

1. For more about The Suburbs and other bands of early '80s Minneapolis, go see Complicated Fun next spring, another new piece developed through the "Raw Stages" festival.
2. The History Theatre's "Raw Stages" Festival takes place in mid-January. So when the weather is cold, go see what's hot in new historical theater (including a reading of my favorite new musical Sweet Land).
3. If this story fascinates you as much as it does me, I highly recommend the book Will to Murder, written by former Duluth crime reporter Gail Feichtinger with input from the lead investigator and prosecutor, so it's chock full of details and evidence.

"Glensheen" by the History Theatre at the Minnesota History Center

I love historic old mansions that have been turned into museums, and my favorite is the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth. A gorgeous house and beautifully manicured grounds right on the shores of Lake Superior, the story of a New York lawyer who got rich in the local mining industry and built this house for his wife and many children, plus a murder mystery! I have to admit, I am more than little fascinated by the story of how elderly millionaire Elisabeth Congden and her nurse were found dead in 1977, one smothered by a satin pillow and the other beaten to death with a candlestick (an actual candlestick!). Yes it's gruesome and tragic, but it's also one of those "truth is stranger than fiction" stories that is so captivating. Playwright Jeffrey Hatcher and composer Chan Poling have taken this fascination with this weird and wonderful story and turned it into a musical, presented as the third show in the History Theatre's Raw Stages Festival. Or at least it's the beginnings of a musical. After working together for only a few days, the creators and the fabulous cast they have assembled presented just over an hour of material. They had meant to have more, "but it snowed" (Jeffrey is extremely dry and funny, see also his Lifetime Achievement Ivey Award acceptance speech). It's definitely still in the "raw" stage of the development process, but almost every song and scene is terrific, the tone of "ironic comedic cynicism" is spot on, and it has much potential to be a fantastic new original musical (my favorite thing in the world!).

In a short intro, Jeffrey explained that the musical is supposed to be a "non-realistic break the fourth wall" sort of thing, with "a spirit of theatricality." Our way into the story is through a modern day tour guide at the mansion (a bubbly Aly Westberg). She calls the head docent (Norah Long) in a panic when one of the guests takes a forbidden photograph in the stairwell where one of the bodies was found. Through a series of flashbacks we meet Elisabeth Congden and her two adopted daughters - Jennifer, the sweet and pretty one (Norah again) and Marjorie (the always fabulous Jody Briskey), who epitomizes the phrase "black sheep of the family." Marjorie meets her second husband Roger (an adorably awkward and "sad sack" Robert O. Berdahl) and introduces him to the family. He (with or without Marjorie's assistance and knowledge) plots to kill Elisabeth, is convicted, confesses to secure his release from jail, and commits suicide. Marjorie is never convicted and goes on to rack up charges of fraud, arson, bigamy, and even murder. The action flashes back and forth between moments in the past and the present day, where we also meet a "cub reporter" (Randy Schmeling) and a wacky detective (Jim Ramlet). The only part of the piece that didn't quite work for me was the ending, with a long exchange about the camera or phone used to take the picture. I was confused about who this woman was (Marjorie? the ghost of Elisabeth?), and the reveal that she was some sort of Marjorie fanatic didn't quite seem to fit. I only nitpick because the rest of the show is gold, just waiting to be polished and fleshed out and put together in the most shiny way possible.

The wonderful songs with clever and funny lyrics include the Sweeney Todd-esque "Ballad of Haunted Glensheen," a song between the two sisters, one good and one bad, a Marjorie/Roger duet  - a "mismatch made in hell," a very funny and drunken Roger singing about the "murder plot," Marjorie's swan song "Burn it Down," and what seemed to be the favorite of the audience - nurse Velma's* sad and sweet song in which her husband begs "stay with me" when the recently retired nurse is called back to work that fateful night.

I loved this piece so much. It's my favorite of the Raw Stages festival so far even though it's also the most raw. It's exactly the kind of musical I like - funny, satirical, witty, a little wacky, about a topic I'm already fascinated by. I cannot wait to see it further fleshed out and produced with lavish sets and costumes and a full orchestra. I hope they keep every one of these seven cast-members who were just perfect in their roles, maybe adding a few more actors to fill out some of the roles. Judging by the sold-out crowd, there is definitely an audience anxious to see Glensheen: The Musical, myself included!

The History Theatre's Raw Stages Festival concludes with a new play by Garrison Keillor this Sunday. But if you don't already have tickets, you're out of luck - it's sold out. But don't worry, I'll be there and will tell you all about it!

the Glensheen Mansion, definitely worth a visit
next time you find yourself in Duluth

*Velma's grand-niece was in the audience and gave her approval of the show in general and Velma's song in particular.